Modern business practices often require that several persons engage in a conference call instead of physically meeting at the same location. The conference call has introduced certain convenient features. For example, a conference call participant who is not actively participating in the conference call may mute the audio output and simply listen to the call. This feature allows the participant to selectively participate in the conference call.
Conference calls, however, are prone to undesirable auditory signals. For example, a participant may unintentionally breathe heavily into the telephone or may fall asleep during a conference call and begin snoring. If the undesirable sounds are mixed with the desired components of the conference call, the undesirable sounds will likely distract or disrupt the conference call. As another example, a participant may place the other participants on hold during a conference call, which may cause music to play over the conference bridge.
The undesirable sounds may be reduced or eliminated using known techniques. According to one technique, a conference bridge operator may manually intervene to remove the undesirable sound. According to another technique, a participant causing the undesirable sound may be notified by another participant. These techniques, however, may disrupt the call on the conference bridge.